Posted by Brian in Oregon on November 16, 1999 at 12:06:54:
In Reply to: Manuals on CD by MM (Not being republished!) posted by Winget on November 16, 1999 at 11:05:44:
The VPW CD is mre expensive, and uses a proprietary program to run. I had no problems whatsoever with it on Win 98. But an early version of Win 95 would not let me install it, no matter how much tweeking I did. I suspect a .dll file is missing, but which one I cannot say.
The MM manual works great on Win 95, Win 98, Mac & OS/2. I did not check other formats. It comes with Adobe Acrobat Reader 3.0 for Win platforms. But you will want to load version 4.0 instead, because it gives you a larger print, should you desire that. Otherwise they operate the same. Utter simplicity and reliable.
As for copying, I always make a working copy of my CD-ROMs and lock the originals in my safe. The MM CD-ROM can indeed be copied. My copy works fine. The VPW copy will read, but it will not install. I am not suggesting anyone pirate these, but in a dirty garage I think it is legit to have a copy so the original does not get damaged. I did not make a mirror image on a hard drive. I intend to try that on my new 20 gig hard drive. That may be better than making a copy.
As for content, I have not played a whole lot with the VPW CD. I can only get it to run at work on my 98 machine, and my 95 machine at home simply will not work with it. I've just completed my home 98 machine, so maybe I can finally play with it now. It is similar to the MM Cd, but does not have the catalog of military vehicles, which of course is window dressing, but fun to look at. The VPW CD did have some items the MM CD left out.
The MM CD also covers the WWII 3/4 ton WC AND the 1 1/2 ton WC 6x6, as well as the M37 family.
Why the difference in expense? MM did the work inhouse. VPW farmed the work out and they got charged a lot for the CD's. At the time this was the only way to go, but MM greatly undercut them. VPW had no choice but to offer the CD at a much higher price, so don't assume they are gouging. They simply are not.
If anyone is interested, I could make further comparisons between the two.
BTW, in neither CD are you able to cut and paste any of the content. Example - you want to use one of the images in another application. You are locked out of doing that.